Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Macht Nichts Sticks

Along the highways in Germany, the autobahn and secondary roads, you’ll see these white and black posts. They're a plastic road edge marker and because they’re along all the main roads there are millions and millions of them throughout Germany. Americans have affectionately named them Macht Nichts (mokt nix) Sticks. Macht nichts means it doesn’t matter or it makes no difference. In reference to these posts, they’re macht nichts because if one is taken out or run over by a passing vehicle it’s no big deal, there’s another one just down the road. So, they’re macht nichts sticks.

Here's a little video with Jeff's explanation about the macht nichts sticks.

Jeff and I happened to find a dead macht nichts stick, just laying there on the edge of the road, back in December while Kelly was visiting. We figured it'd be a great souvenir that would look good standing near our pool in Texas. So we devised a clandestine operation to pick it up. The plan required three people; one to drive, one to make the pickup and one to document the event. Here's a daring black ops, right here in central Germany.

The macht nichts stick weighs almost nothing, other than the metal foot that attaches the post to the base anchored in the ground, as mentioned, it's a hollow, plastic post. Now, the trickest part of any foreign abduction, getting it out of the country undetected.

I just realized your title photo is of the castle in Nuernberg, where I was born. :) Nice blog! just got back from almost 3 weeks in Germany and my wife and I are seriously thinking about trying to make our way back there to live for a while. Enjoy it while you can!

One last thing, about the "macht nichts" sticks... If you look at the ones that are located along the autobahn, you'll notice they have directional arrows that will direct you to the nearest orange autobahn phone/PA system in the event of a breakdown or accident.

Love all these comments here, yes Megan finally it took a year but it is where we can see it everyday and remember our beloved Germany. Loft you crack me up, scared me for a minute. Jaetee, thank you! You are correct Nuremberg, lovely city. We had to finally come home after 3 lovely years, I have lived a total of 10 years in Germany and love it. I hope you get to live there too.

About Me

I was born at Ruislip AFB, England(London area)my mother is English and dad was an American in the military; he retired and is deceased now. I moved a lot growing up as most military kids do, went to 5 high schools. I graduated from RN school in 1978 and joined the active duty Air Force in 1980. Met Rowdy/Jeff my husband and we married in 1983. He is a fighter pilot and we lived in England and Germany for 8 straight years. We both retired from the Air Force and he flies for American airlines, however, he is on a military-leave-of-absence for 3 years. He came out of AF retirement so we can live in Germany again, a dream of ours come true. We have a beautiful daughter who is 25, Megan, and she is married to Will Carter an awesome son-in-law. Hope you enjoy our stories of living in Germany for the next 3 years.